And just like that the NBA offseason is officially here.
Tuesday was the type of day that reminds us why watching Twitter in the summer can be just as interesting for NBA fans as watching actual basketball at other times of the year.
The Lakers made a big trade with complex implications, sending D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov to Brooklyn for Brook Lopez and a first-round pick. Later in the day, the Atlanta Hawks abruptly dealt Dwight Howard to the Charlotte Hornets for, more or less, a bag of balls. Meanwhile, Dwyane Wade is returning to Chicago, Phil Jackson might trade Kristaps Porzingis, and the Clippers are shopping DeAndre Jordan.
We’ll break down all that and also update you on the rest of the day in sports, right here in The Cheat Sheet.
Lakers trade D’Angelo Russell, clear space for Lonzo Ball, Paul George
The NBA world received quite a jolt Tuesday afternoon with this tweet from Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Just like that, the Nets added a 21-year-old point guard only two years removed from being the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft, and the Lakers opened up a position for Lonzo Ball and cap room for Paul George.
This trade was a big deal not necessarily for the players involved but for the future implications. It seems like an almost foregone conclusion that Paul George will wind up in purple and gold one way or another: either through a trade in the coming weeks or in free agency next summer. And with Mozgov and his bloated contract gone, there could be room for another star’s salary as well. It might not be absurd to imagine LeBron James playing in L.A. by the fall of 2018.
Additionally, Russell’s departure seems to clear the way for the Lakers to draft a point guard—most likely the much-argued-over Lonzo Ball.
For the Nets, this trade seems like a savvy move, a buy-low play on a high-ceiling player. For the Lakers, it doesn’t much move the needle on the court but creates a whole lot of intrigue off of it.
Dwight Howard traded from Atlanta to Charlotte for… who?
Oh, how the might have fallen.
One-time All-NBA first-teamer Dwight Howard was dealt Tuesday from the Atlanta Hawks to the Charlotte Hornets for a package so underwhelming that Marc Spears misremembered what Charlotte’s team was called…
And Adrian Wojnarowski misspelled a player’s name.
The only real takeaway here is how little value Dwight Howard has in 2017. Thanks to declining performance and chronic locker-room issues, he’s slipped from a truly elite player to one who gets traded for a couple bench bums.
Despite having relatively limited on-court ramifictations, this trade produced a couple odd Twitter-related moments.
First of all, there’s something amusing about the fact Dwight tweeted this literally five minutes before news of the trade broke.
Then there was the fact that the Hornets and Hawks’ Twitter accounts (presumably not run by any decision-making execs) more or less told us this was coming.
The NBA is so, so weird.
Quick hits
– Knicks president Phil Jackson is reportedly open to trading Kristaps Porzingis, which would piss off approximately every Knicks fan in the world.
– Dwyane Wade will be back with the Bulls in 2017-18, having picked up his $24 million player option. The future Hall of Famer did not beat around the bush when asked his motivation.
Wade did, however, get a little bit defensive against people who allege he’s on the downswing.
– Another NBA nugget: The Clippers are working on trading DeAndre Jordan, according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes.
– If that wasn’t enough shocking NBA news for you, Kawhi Leonard seems to have a new haircut.
– Chicago Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa might have to retire for the oddest reason: He’s allergic to his equipment.
– Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp will donate his brain to CTE research, when he retires.
– O.J. Simpson’s parole hearing is set for July 20. He could get out of prison in October.
– Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager launched three home runs Tuesday, becoming only the fourth player ever to have multiple three-homer games by age 23.
– Former NFL offensive lineman Ryan O’Callaghan came out as gay in a profile on OutSports.com, and his story offered a very clear reason why we should care.
One last moment of procrastination
This fan was extremely excited to come across Dwayne Johnson in public. So excited, in fact, that he abandoned his truck in the middle of traffic.